Rogue Youngers Special Bitter

Hazy light amber colour. Light spicy/citrusy hop aroma, UK-style malts. Flavour is well-balanced, sweetness up front, a bit herbal and woodsy. Clean finish with light earthy bitterness. Well-balanced tasty brew.

The brutal bitter impressed me a bit by not being aggressively overhopped like the old crusty, and this beer, too, showed remarkable restraint in the hop department. The malt profile was a little weaker than in the brutal bitter, however, somewhat more muddled and with less biscuit and more diacetyl touches. Oh well. Not a bad little beer.

A Mes rate: Mmm quite tasty this one. The aroma has a touch of the Abbaye des Rocs. Very hoppy with a touch of orange and spice in there. Appearance is a cloudy amber and quite unusual. Head is fairly decent and lasts reasonably well. Nice creamy body, plenty of hops and more cream but not sweet. Palate is pretty damn good. As ESBs go in my experience this is a pretty good one. Considering they have this cheap at Sainsbury then I would expect to have a few more of these in the future

18-Oct-05 (22 oz bottles: $4 at Issaquah Brewery in Issaquah, WA) While visiting breweries all around the Pacific Northwest, I found bottles of Fat Head’s Ale and Cliff Hanger Ale at the Issaquah Brewery, and since I collect bottles, I figured I’d get these beers for my collection, even if they are the same beer as the Younger’s Special Bitter. I suspect my review of Younger’s from 16 months ago is a bit off, which is part of the reason why I’m doing a new rating here. Even though I’m not directly comparing them with the Younger’s, I can definitely confirm that Fat Head and Cliff Hanger taste exactly the same. They’re mildly fruity, lightly sweet and toasty, and gently bitter though the bitterness tends to be the slightly dominant aspect. There’s also a mild tartness in the background. The nose is fairly toasty and dry, with a grassy aroma. Medium bodied, and the carbonation levels are about average for beer. Hazy, dark amber in color. The off-white head pours pretty tall, and retention is solid, holding a thin layer for the entire session, although the Cliff Hanger is holding a good quarter-inch or more, and the lacing for that beer is wonderfully ringed. Overall, this isn’t bad, but still pretty mediocre by Rogue standards, and far from being one of my favorites.

16-Jun-04 (22 oz bottle: Whole Foods in San Diego/Hillcrest) Like the Fuller’s ESB, the nose is woody and malty, and the flavor is fairly malty and fairly sweet, but that is where the similarities end. The key difference is that this medium bodied ESB has the classic strong hops bitterness toward the finish that is typical of Rogue beers, and it tends to overpower the malt at that point. The flavor also lacks any fruitiness. There is also a fair amount of hoppiness in the nose. Bright amber color. Off-white head has excellent retention, but leaves only a modest amount of lacing.

Picked up one of these in the discount singles bin at Sam’s Quickshop. This is probably the best beer I’ve found in the discount bin there before. Generally I prefer IPAs to ESBs, but this beer definitely held its own. Deep honey color, kind of opaque, not a whole lot of bubbles, but a creamy off-white head. Aroma is sweet (toffee, some fruit). Flavor starts sweet, malty, and ends up with a pleasant, medium-to-high bitter. The hops don’t really stick around long though. There is a bit of a metallic ness to the bitter unfortunately, and the palatte is a bit on the watery side.

Redish gold pour, fluffy head that disapears. Good lacing, ok whiff, nutty. A well balanced Rogue, not their best. Nutmeggy aftertaste.

22 oz. bottle. Different label than that in the picture. Pours a hazy iced-tea brown with a thin light-tan head. Nicely balanced aroma with a moderate amount of piney hops and caramelly malts. Pretty earthy. Medium body. Mild amount of both hops and malts in the taste. A little caramel, sap and alcohol. A sour, bitter finish. Nothing special.

bottled as summits wayside cliff hanger ale. fragrant signature rogue hop aroma with some sweet toffee. more noticeable malts in this beer. same rogue hop character but less boldness. cloudy amber color. somewhat thin and smooth.